Festive Distress
by Skysky
Summary: Schuldich feels an unnatural distress at Nagi's sudden depression at the start of the Christmas season; sequel to Little Gold Boxes. (rated for shounen-ai hints; SchuNagi)


**Disclaimer:** Schwarz, Schuldich (seeexy!), Nagi and all associated and registered trademarks are copyright Project Weiß and associated firms. Typical disclaimer.   
  
**Warning:** Shounen-ai. Schu+Nagi, nothing hot and heavy yet. ^^;   
  
_Sequel to Little Gold Boxes; which written and posted by me as well._   
  
**Festive Distress**   
  
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Miserable.   
  
The thought was distracting and almost brought the mind to a distraught state. Someone was miserable, and it was growing to be an incredible distraction. Yet, normally the one who was sensing it would have shrugged off the feeling, or perhaps smirked in his evil, sadistic method. After all, being miserable was something that each person deserved, and something that the Guilty One always tried to deliver by route of mental game. However, Schuldich could not just overlook this case of growing upset and depression because it was flowing from the one person that he, in any matter, found himself unable to ignore.   
  
Nagi.   
  
Nagi was miserable, and this was very distracting. There was, of course, the given reasons as to why this would be unsettling to anyone, even a German telepath: A fifteen year old male with the telekinetic power to smash any structure with a thought being miserable was not good. When miserable, people tended to be irritable, and Nagi was no exception. The boy actually seemed to carry that irritation to a whole new level, as though having the ability to crush someone's bones gave him a right to be that much more pissed off and unbothered of it. So, he was a telekinetic who was very upset on a constant basis as of late, and thus a danger.   
  
But why?   
  
That was what made Schuldich distraught. Recently, the telepath had realized that he had felt something for the young Schwarz member that was deeper than his desire to torment each living, breathing person to the point of their own suicide. It was unsettling, really, to realize that he actually cared about someone beyond that point. Well beyond that point, as hours of self reflection had proven to him that he really, deeply cared about the teen. To the point of that poisonous word known as love. That lie so many were fed, when the reality was that love was a clinging thing that drained the soul. That something that slowly pulled all energy out of a person and replaced it with the repetition of holding the same person day after day, week after week. (Oh, how had he changed to actually think that love was worth something? It was a poison, but one he was actually willingly taking! Insanity had to run rampant in him for caring to appear in the soulless mindraper. For love to want to be acknowledged and, ugh, encouraged in his life.)   
  
So it was a question and a worry of why it was that Nagi was as miserable as he presented himself that plagued Schuldich the most. That and the typically indignant, self-posed questions as to why he even bothered to care. Those were always answered by that little voice in his head that was his few emotions, and it always spoke up that he cared, as unnatural as that was. Unfortunately, over time Schuldich was softening and beginning to accept that. How pitiful of him, of course, to accept that love. But, damnit, he had. Pathetic, really.   
  
Oh, but accepting it was only the first step in this oddly pleasing curse. The second step was the express that love or caring, and how he did that was to attempt to cheer up the boy. Curious, it was, how the telepath who was capable of melting down a human mind was now trying to lighten and cheer one up. And had actually turned into a man ready to jump hoops, in some certain cases, if it would have cheered Nagi up.   
  
Thankfully it had yet to turn to that, so his German pride was still quite intact.   
  
So far, Schuldich had been able to keep the boy on the borderline of freedom from his depression by his unique, anonymous gifts of the finest German chocolate left laying about in little gold boxes. Chocolate was a forbidden thing from Nagi's diet, and so the little sugary gifts had been received quite pleasantly. They had even begun to put the boy in a most constant state of near cheer; something at least brighter than his normal sour outlook on life. Schuldich had been so proud of himself, managing to actually make the solemn telekinetic smile on occasion with his little presents. Regardless that they had been unsigned, he also knew that Nagi suspected him of leaving those candies for him. Little was missed by that young psychic, and even less when Schuldich had given certain hints that he knew about those secret gifts, and perhaps had even had a hand in their distribution. Thus it was with confidence that the telepath linked that slight brightening of the boy's features upon seeing that mess of fiery orange hair enter a room with that who had been leaving those little gifts of chocolate gold.   
  
It had been enough, seeing those small smiles, to make even the cruel and sadistic German telepath feeling the honest hints of happiness.   
  
Except, it had all faded around the start of winter. Not the official calendar date, but instead when the weather had cooled to rain and faint touches of snow, as Tokyo had always known for the colder months of the year. As the clouds had begun to move in on the outdoor world, Schuldich had begun to witness a certain cloud moving in over Nagi's young mind. The kind of heavy cloud that no teenager could have possibly deserved to have had hanging over them, regardless of their past. The kind of darkness that not even Schuldich would have wished on many, unless he had been orchestrating it, of course. And it was with a certain distress that he had watched this new mood set into the boy, one he had not recognized from times before. Then again, previous to his reflections and feelings, Schuldich had not noticed much about the boy, too taken with his hentai pursuits to bother with an underaged teen who took teasing in very bad form, and very painful form for those who teased him. So, whether this growing depression was new or recurring, he knew not; all that he could realize was that it bothered him.   
  
The smiles had grown fewer and further inbetween as the days filled with rain outdoors, the few sparks of growing happiness extinguished by the arrival of a darker frame of mind that now seemed unusual. The telepath had taken steps to fight this growing upset, however failure had started to meet his attempts. He had doubled his presents rate, leaving more chocolates for the telekinetic to find pleasure in consuming; but there had been no response to the positive. Rather, Nagi had actually begun to ignore the little golden boxes of candy left about for him, not touching the sweets in favour of lurking in his seemingly newfound sadness. This was most upsetting to Schuldich, for it had taken him a great deal of time to strike that chord of happiness in consuming chocolates that the boy had. To have it suddenly fail him was very distressing, as he knew not of what else to try to cheer Nagi up. Being pleasant was not the telepath's specialty, he tended to rely on the same tactics, and then sink when or if they failed. As they had now, leaving him stranded.   
  
So what was he to do?   
  
That was a question he had been unable to answer for the longest time. That timeframe, fortunately, had ended the previous week when the German had struck upon what it was that was depressing the boy. Winter had come, and with it had brought the most disgusting of things to any that hated society. Christmas and festive holidays. The time when so many people became insufferably happy and lived their lives as though there were not a care in the world. And, oh how Nagi seemed to hate it. And sifting with care through the boy's depressed thoughts, it had not taken Schuldich long to realize why. Nagi, after all, had lived his life on the streets previous to the day that Crawford had picked him from the gutter and brought him to Schwarz. And on the streets, the telekinetic had been exposed to some of the worst facets of society. The kinds of people who enjoyed taking the mind stabling illusions that a child held about holidays and Santa and the like and crushing those things into a dust that could never be repaired. The kinds of people who enjoyed breaking a mind even more than Schuldich, and such was truly a difficult thing. Except that those people took perverse pleasure in breaking the mind of children, something that even the Guilty One avoided too often. And it had been those kinds of people that had crushed Nagi's few optimistic hopes for society and holidays, teaching him that nothing good came of Christmas, merely pain and isolation.   
  
It was no wonder that the boy grew miserable as that dreaded 25th of December approached.   
  
Schuldich, however, had decided that Nagi no longer needed or deserved to be miserable during the festive times of year. He was going to restore that boy's good mood, if only to see that soft, secretive smile again. Nagi had spent enough time hurting and alone; it was his due time to be happy. At least, that was Schuldich's opinion of the matter. And he had decided that it was going to be his German touch that helped that boy smile during that most hate worthy time of the year.   
  
So, with that in mind, Schuldich tactlessly shoved open the door of the illustrious space room that Schwarz loved so, a grin lighting his face as he spotted the telekinetic sitting at the computer. Strolling into the room with his lazy, cat-like walk, the telepath carried with him two coats and was greeted by one unhappy look.   
  
"What do you want?" Nagi asked calmly, his voice holding faint undertones of that depression and bitter anger at the world for celebrating things that he knew, from his life on the streets, had no right to be celebrated. Peace on Earth, indeed...   
  
One swift move of his arm dropped the coat on the boy's shoulders. "Put your coat on Naggles, we're going out for an errand," the German replied, lying with the ease that he was so known for. "Brad-bear wants us to pick up some eggnog and red dye, so Farfarello can drink something other than blood without complaining about the lack of crimson tone to it." So, it was not the truth, but the only way he was going to get the telekinetic outside without a fight was to claim and order from their leader. Schuldich knew it would work, and once he had Nagi outside of the house, he could go about phase two of his plan.   
  
Poor Nagi, of course, would never suspect a thing.   
  
  
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Author Notes:   
  
More parts are forthcoming, and will be uploaded as I write them. Comments are always appreciated, such that I may now how well the story is received and how it is that I may improve. ^^ 


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